Malcolm X

This is one of the most powerful movies I have ever seen. I love it. Spike Lee did a fabulous job in putting Malcolm X's autobiography into film. I also highly recommend the book. It's got WAY more information in it (obviously) and is an excellent read.

This bio-pic of the one-time Nation of Islam leader Malcolm X is over three hours of richly textured history enlivened by a virtuoso performance by Denzel Washington. From Malcolm's earliest days as the son of an outspoken preacher to his assassination in front of his wife and children, the film traces the evolving philosophies of one of the most influential men of the civil rights movement. When Malcolm legally changes his surname to X, we understand why. When he declares that blacks and whites should be completely segregated, we know where he is coming from. When he renounces his ties with the Nation of Islam and creates his own Islamic organization, we see why this was so necessary, despite the danger. Director Spike Lee carefully constructs the story of a fallible, intelligent, and driven man that disputes much of the media package presented to white America at the time.

You definitely need a comfortable chair for this marathon of a film. Although it probably could have been edited down to less than three hours by condensing some of the earlier scenes, such omissions would have lessened the impact of Malcolm's early days as a man in search of pleasure and easy money, values that directly conflicted with his later, righteous persona. Based on the "autobiography" written with Alex Haley, the screenplay manages to humanize a man who was often publicly demonized.

I can't find fault with any of the performances - all were excellent - but Angela Bassett as Malcolm's wife stands out. The cinematography is sweeping, with a sepia palette for Malcolm's pre-Islamic days, and conveys in gorgeous, riveting images the power of the man and his cause. The special features, though worth watching, would be best left for another sitting, since the film demands introspection afterward. Interestingly, Washington does such a fantastic job at channeling Malcolm that viewers will be amazed when watching actual footage.

This is a must-see film for anyone with a serious interest in cinema, civil rights, and/or biopics.

No matter how many times I watch this film, "Malcolm X" -- I saw it several times at the theaters when it came out in Japan around 1993 and now again, on this two-disc DVD special edition -- I still come to the same conclusion: This film is, for me, by far the best and most important movie that has ever come out of Hollywood.

It is the story of one man's journey through life, but it is much more than that: It is the story of a family, a society, a nation -- indeed the world in which we all live. As its foundation, the story of Malcolm X is as American as apple pie and the U.S. flag, but it crosses cultures and transcends national boundaries to speak to the strength of the human spirit as a whole.

I would like to thank director Spike Lee and all those persons who invested their time, energy and resources to see this film to completion. The original struggle to make this film only makes it that much more meaningful and appreciated these many years later. The heart and soul that the filmmakers and financial backers gave to this film shine through after all this time like the sun. Though essentially snubbed by the reigning Hollywood masters of imagery, this film is truly one for the ages and it will pass the test of time where most other Hollywood productions fail. To Spike and the "Malcolm X" filmmaking family: Thank you for creating this film and presenting it to the world.

To those who are thinking of buying this two-disc special edition of "Malcolm X": First, pick up a copy at a bookstore or a library of the book "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" written by the real Malcolm X and Alex Haley, and read it through. Then, buy this DVD. And after that, if you've got a mind to, go out and make history by changing the world around you in a positive way. That is the way to keep the spirit of Malcolm X alive forever.

****(*)

MALCOLM X is Spike Lee's masterwork film, his most generally accessible work, and a biopic and homage to the oft-misunderstood Malcolm, here portrayed brilliantly by Denzel Washington.

Although Spike Lee occasionally falls into careless stylism (choppy, non-linear scenes and art school cinematographic indulgences mar the film in spots), the overwhelming tenor and drive of MALCOLM X reduces these flashes to dismissable annoyances.

Far better is the story, first of a young Malcolm Little, who from the day of his birth was forced to face institutionalized and endemic racism. The viewer's heart both breaks and flames as the ten year old Malcolm protests, "I get the best grades in class," only to be answered by the smarmy, smug white schoolmaster, "Yes, but you're a ni**er. And a lawyer is no proper job for a ni**er. Why don't you become a carpenter? Jesus was a carpenter, you know."

It is little wonder that the light-skinned red-haired Malcolm (whose mother was a Grenadine, and three-quarters white), turned his frustrated brilliance toward a sordid life of crime and drugs, making his mark in Harlem as "Detroit Red," a successful scam artist and pimp. A term in jail turned Malcolm around, converting him into a Black Muslim. Denzel Washington plays the ever-changing Malcolm with passion.

At first totally hypnotized by the Nation of Islam message that all devils are white and all whites are devils, Malcolm became a firebrand leader and spokesman for the African-American community, calling for their liberation "By any means necessary!" at exactly the moment that his contemporary, Dr. Martin Luther King called for black liberation through nonviolence. Although the two men seem to be opposites, they are far more alike than circumstance paints them. King figures only passingly in the film, but King's philosophical evolution was mirrored by Malcolm's, who likewise began moving toward a muscular nonviolence as he moved away from the parochial and exclusivist position of the NOI, and adopted a more global and cosmopolitan worldview of Islam as a unifying and all-inclusive force in the world.

His assassination (by extremists) in 1965 robbed the world of a man who was about to become a spokesperson for universal human dignity. Spike Lee's film is both a record of and a memorial to, Malcolm X, who he was, and who he was becoming. What he might have become . . . we will never really know.

FOUR STARS FOR THE FILM
FIVE STARS FOR THE MESSAGE

Built around a commanding performance by Denzel Washington, Spike Lee's "Malcolm X" is the writer-director's most ambitious, impassioned film to date, as it presents a turbulent and eventful life filled with self- transformation. The Oscar-nominated Washington never lets you forget his hero's fiery charisma, the emotional impact and candor of his speeches, or the resentment he faced from both sides of the racial divide. With a top-notch cast, and Ernest Dickerson's fluid camerawork creating immediacy, "Malcolm X" bristles with energy and impact.